Rice Balls and Silver Lockets
by PhantomBella
Summary: A fluffy SasuHina oneshot in honor of Sasuke's birthday! Rated T for safety.


A/N: Hmmm, well, I had a few hours until Sasuke's birthday was over when I finished his other present (the newest chapter of Obsidian which you should totally read!) So, I decided to write him another little fanfic in honor of his birthday. Oh, and SasuSaku and SasuIno shippers... please don't hurt me! Enjoy! And happy birthday Uchiha-san!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or any of the characters, plots, or themes therein.

Rice Balls and Silver Lockets

It was the worst day of the year.

The time when everyone, and I mean everyone, would try to win his heart with flowers, chocolates, candies, personalized 'I Love Sasuke-kun' t-shirts, you name it. He wouldn't have been surprised if one of the girls had gone out and bought him a heart locket with their picture in it, to keep with him always, of course. It was the day that everyone went out of their way to please him, which always ended in disaster.

It was his birthday.

Sure enough, as he opened the curtains to let the golden July sun inside his room, a bouquet of flowers awaited him on the sill. A dozen pink roses, a sign of love. And a pink card, decorated with sakura petals and glitter. He wrinkled his nose at this, but carefully put the flowers in a vase to show appreciation for Sakura's gift. Or maybe to avoid the awkward explanation of why they were in the trash, when she unavoidably visited later. He wasn't sure which.

Why couldn't someone just think of what HE wanted for his birthday, instead of what THEY thought was the perfect gift? All of the girls who fawned over him—Ino and Sakura particularly—bought him the kinds of things they would want for their birthday, and there was really only one—albeit large—problem with this.

Sasuke Uchiha was a man.

He sighed deeply as he took his shower and got dressed, though he was more watchful than usual for fangirls trying to watch him. Satisfied that he had made it through his morning routine with his dignity unscathed, he tentatively opened the back door to his apartment and stepped outside, only to be greeted by an empty alley.

This was not entirely unexpected, as Ino had recently taken to following Sai about, and Sakura probably wasn't going to check in on him until later. The clock had said it was about noon. What to do until then…

"A-ano, Uchiha-san?"

Sasuke turned much more abruptly than was really necessary, and found himself face to face with the Hyuuga family heir, Hinata.

"Hinata?" Sasuke asked, confusion written in his countenance. They had been friends for a while, but she hadn't approached him on his birthday since Sakura and Ino had taken over.

"I-I'm sorry if I'm bothering you b-but… oh! I should've started with happy birthday…" Hinata stuttered, her face inclined to the ground. This drew Sasuke's attention to a closed basket that she was carrying, which led him to question her intentions.

"Thank you," Sasuke said as cordially as he could while trying to mask his annoyance at her incompetence. "Can I help you?"

"Oh!" she started, lifting her head and looking him in the eye. "I-I don't know if you had any p-plans but… I made you lunch and… I-I was wondering if you wanted to have a p-picnic by the lake."

Sasuke was slightly taken aback, but found this gesture much more thoughtful than Sakura's narcissistic display of 'affection.'

"Sure, thanks Hinata," Sasuke said.

Lunch with Hinata wasn't nearly as frustrating as Sasuke had thought it might be. She had made rice balls with bonito flake filling, his favorite food. They ate in comfortable silence, occasionally making comments and talking about what they had been up to since they had last spoken.

"Uchiha-san, have you had a nice birthday?" Hinata asked when Sasuke had cleaned his last plate. She had become notably more relaxed after her friend had swooned over her cooking.

"Yes, actually, which is unusual. But there's one thing I can't quite figure out," Sasuke said, wrinkling his nose which made Hinata giggle slightly.

"What?" he asked, feigning annoyance.

Hinata missed his sarcasm. "Oh, I'm sorry! It was just your face!"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

"Ohh! I-I didn't mean th-that!" Hinata stumbled, her stutter returning.

"Relax, Hyuuga. It's no big deal," Sasuke said with a small smirk, though it wasn't as edgy as usual. "I just wanted to know, why did you go out of your way to do this for me?" Hinata blushed crimson and again looked to the ground, hiding her face in a curtain of hair.

"A-ano… I-I can't tell you just yet. I need to give you your present, first," Hinata said, reaching into the picnic basket.

First, she pulled out a set of kunai knives with Sasuke's name engraved in them in her lovely, flowing script. He examined them analytically, mumbling things like 'perfectly balanced' and 'sharpest I've ever seen' under his breath. Hinata allowed herself a small smile at this.

Then, while he wasn't looking, she pulled out a heart-shaped locket. Sucking in a deep breath of air, she boldly attached the chain around Sasuke's neck. He grimaced when he saw it, and Hinata hid her discouragement well.

"Open it," she whispered.

Inside were two pictures. On the left was his mother, Mikoto Uchiha. On the right was a picture of him as a child, kissing Hinata on the cheek. The Hyuuga girl was blushing in the picture, and when he looked up from the images, the same blush was on her face. The pictures were a reminder of a past when his birthdays were his favorite part of the year, and the Hyuuga and Uchiha families were close.

"I-I wasn't sure if you'd l-like it... but I w-wanted to s-somehow t-tell you that I think I l-lo…"

This time, Sasuke took her lips.


End file.
